Part 2

She reappears a few seconds later with the drinks, handing me mine and sipping hers silently.

"So how are you going to beat that?" I ask, looking forward to hearing more about the secret life of Connie Beauchamp. "You don't seem like the type to be addicted to anything, too bloody minded."

"I'm sure there's a compliment in there somewhere, so I'll ignore that jibe" She says, smiling thoughtfully. "I've never considered myself addicted to anything. But if I was, I suppose sex would be it."

"It figures " I grin triumphantly, my bad-mood long since removed by her presence, and she looks at me humorously. "Well don't you look like the cat that's got the cream."

I shrug, unable to wipe the grin from my face. "I'm not in the least bit surprised that's all."

"Mmm. Well, neither am I. I had a strict Catholic upbringing" she explains captivatingly, fiddling with a strand of hair absently as she speaks. "Sex was a taboo subject, and that makes you crave it ten times more for the rest of your life."

"The forbidden sin"

She laughs softly. "You could put it that way, yes."

"You still aren't convincing me Connie, I lost huge amounts of money, not all of it my own, and it doesn't seem to me like your fondness of all things physical doesn't negatively affect the rest of us." She smiles again, laughter shining in her eyes as I continue. "Plus there's a bigger risk with gambling, and I'm definitely addicted to it. At least you possess some self-control where your vice is concerned."

"You're probably the sole person in Holby that believes that that's true. My previous escapades haven't exactly done my reputation any favours." She says somewhat glumly.

"Well to my knowledge you haven't received any bad reviews. And if you had, they'd be lying." I say, lightening the mood a little, and she brightens, smirking knowingly at me. "Flattery will get you everywhere Mr. Griffin. But I have to disagree, my … Moonlit dalliances hold a much higher risk, after all money isn't everything."

"As much as I'd love to learn a little more about your illicit liaisons with the various members of the hospital, I have to admit you have a point there."

"I'm afraid it's far too early in the day, and I've had far too little alcohol to be discussing my sex-life in any more detail, so I'd appreciate it if we moved on… After all, I get the feeling that there's more to your depressed state earlier than your loss of a few months wages and the length of time you've been on this earth"

I look up from my drink and smile. "Well observed Miss Marple."

She drinks the last of her wine before gesturing to the barman that we want another round; Fluttering her eyelashes and sweet smiles her ultimate bargaining tool.

"Ok so you win on that account… Lets see… I alienated my daughter so much that she convinced herself that sleeping with Zubin was a good idea."

She laughs unreservedly at my obvious disgust, the alcohol beginning to loosen her tongue. "Although driving anyone to sleep with Professor Kahn cannot possibly be outdone, I have to argue the first point; at least you have children."

"I never had you down as the maternal type." I say, floundered not for the first time tonight by her revelations.

"Thanks for that Ric" She says, slightly indignant and I chuckle softly.

"I have nine of them, and I don't know which one is more trouble." I say regretfully and she shakes her head in disbelief. "See it's men like you who think that women are just baby-machines that push the rest of us into the hands of the feminists."

I laugh again at her resentment to my behaviour and decide to clarify things. "Well that brings me to the next mistake. Wife number one."

"Number one?" She echoes questioningly and I nod. "There have been four."

She giggles, before sipping her drink, thoroughly amused by my family dynamics. "So who was wife number one?"

"That would have been Philippa."

"And what happened there?"

I pull a face, "She said that she knew sex made some people happy, but for her, sex was just like having a cup of tea."

She laughs long and hard at my misfortune, tears of laughter appearing in her eyes. "So that was her out of the door."

I nod, seeing the humorous side of it. "The divorce papers were signed within the week."

"So why did you and Michael never…"

She looks down at her glass, quiet now, reflective even. "I suppose it was just never part of our agenda. He had his Charity Balls, Board Meetings and pretty secretaries… And I had crusades of my own in the hospital."

"Tell me about it" I mutter, and she grins widely. "You love it really."

"What? All the chaos you've caused?" I ask, my temper rising as the events of the day take their toll on my mood.

"It's organised chaos." She argues, looking at me sternly. "We'll get more funding from it."

"It's all politics for you isn't" I mutter cruelly and she frowns. "More funding now, means we can re-expand Keller at a later date. It's a win win situation."

"Not for the 19 year old girl who's bowel I had to remove today when a routine procedure could have prevented it." I argue bitterly.

"If you'd have had her transferred to Saint James' before she became critical, then maybe she would have stood a chance of receiving the operation in time." She snaps, and I realise that the centre of excellence is a touchy issue with her right now. But that doesn't prevent my anger from rising even further.

"That isn't fair. How was I supposed to know she'd deteriorate like that? I'm not bloody physic Connie."

"Exactly." She says glumly. "I did what I thought was best at the time Ric. I couldn't have known how it would turn out before hand, I'm not omniscient"

"I suppose" I say grudgingly and she stares into her glass, seemingly sinking into a fit of depression, muttering under her breath despondently . "And at least you managed to save her. At least she lived."

"I'm sorry" I say truthfully, knowing how raw Will's death still was to her, and she shrugs. "Doesn't change anything. Just one of those things."

I let it pass, deciding that any further exploration of the topic would leave me with burnt fingers. She looks into the bottom of her glass thoughtfully for a few seconds before looking up, seeming brighter. "Come on then, tell me about wife number two."